This was followed by a talk from Dr. Andrew Smith (Centre of Human & Aerospace Physiological Sciences), who showed experimental evidence that regular, intensity-controlled exercise training of adult rats can lead to activation of endogenous cardiac stem / progenitor cells, which might open new possibilities to repair the heart after damage.

Professor Johan Hylner, Chief Scientific Officer of the UK Cell Therapy Catapult, talked about stem cell-based pre-clinical and clinical trials currently underway in the UK and highlighted the barriers that scientists face when translating their research to the clinics.

The event ended with a presentation by Prof. Sian Harding (National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London) about cell therapy of heart failure, in which she highlighted the pros and cons inherent in applying different types of stem cells (bone marrow stem cells, embryonic stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells) for treatment of heart diseases.

All in all, it was an interesting outreach event that also attracted a large non-specialist audience.